Porirua Writer's Walk - Patricia Grace

Patricia Grace is a major New Zealand novelist, short story writer and children’s writer. She is of Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa descent, and is affiliated to Ngati Porou by marriage. Grace began writing early, whilst teaching and raising her family of seven children.

Patricia Grace was the 2014 Honoured New Zealand Writer at the Auckland Writers Festival.

Grace's latest novel Chappy - her first novel in ten years – was released in 2015. It follows the story of young man (Chappy) who ventures back to New Zealand to reconnect to his Maori culture and ancestry. From Aotearoa, Chappy becomes involved in the international affair of war, making Chappy a powerful demonstration of the ties that Maori have with the wider world. The novel was a finalist in the Fiction section of the 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.